THE BLACK RASPBERRY. 49 



Mr. Bracket! : Do you raise two crops after setting them 

 out? 



Mr. Hopkins: We raise onh- one crop. 



Mr. West: What do you do with them? 



Mr. Hopkins: We throw them away. 



Mr. A- J. Philips: Four years ago at Lake Okabena I found 

 >ome black raspberries that I thought were bearing very early, 

 and I took some up, and when I came home I propagated them 

 and compared them with the berries at Sparta, and they were 

 seven daj"s earlier than Mr. Thayer's. We had no name for 

 them. I would like to know if there is anyone here who has 

 fruited it and how they like it. 



Mr. Harris: It came from the Ozark Mountains It is an ex- 

 cellent fruit and gives a longer season of bearing. I have five 

 or six plants. I know they bore heavily this last year, and it 

 is very productive, but the fruit is very soft. 



Pres. Underwood: I think Mr. Hopkins is now ready to re- 

 port the yield of his raspberries. 



Mr. Hopkins: An acre yielded about 1800 quarts. We had 

 a very severe drouth last year which cut off the crop some. 



Mr. Brackett: That gentleman has been speaking about his 

 blackcaps, and I would simply like to ask a question. What 

 raspberries and blackberries would the members suggest 

 staking. Staking is quite an expensive feature, and such vari- 

 eties as the Marlborough want staking the same as some of the 

 leading reds and blackcaps. Now. I would like to know what 

 varieties of blackcaps it would pay to stake. 



Mr. Harris: There are two objects in staking. The first 

 object in staking raspberries is to get them compact, so we can 

 work them both ways with the horse, and the second object is 

 to keep them clean. Take the blackcap raspberry, for instance: 

 if it sprawls out a foot on either side you cannot get a horse 

 through, whereas, if they are staked and tied up in a compact 

 mass, it leaves space for a horse to pass through. There are 

 two objects in cultivating with a horse: it is more economical 

 than to cultivate by hand, and it is much better: so we stake 

 them to save another expanse of hand cultivation I think it 

 is cheaper to stake and tie them than to cultivate them by hand. 

 Three years ago they were so thick we could not get through 

 with the horse. We staked them and the expense was consid 

 erable. but then we could cultivate them. Some varieties must 

 be staked. Take some of the red ones, the Marlborough, for 

 instance: if it is not staked and a rain comes along when the 



